Waterproof basement construction



March A15, 1949. L'. Y. DAvls 2,464,491

WATERPROOF BASEMENT CONSTRUCTION Filed July '25. 194e Patented Mar. l5, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WATERPROOF BASIJT CoNs'rRUCTIoN Lee Y. Davis, Atlanta, Ga.

Application July 23, 1946, Serial N o. 685,599

2 Claims. (Cl. 'I2-126) This invention relates to basement constructions and more particularly to a basement construction having means for preventing entry of water therein.

It is an object of my invention to provide a basementl construction having means to divert ground water therearound to eliminate seepage into the basement interior.

It is another object of my invention to provide a basement construction which may be easily and cheaply built.

It is a more specific object of my invention to provide a combination of 4building blocks which may be readily assembled to form the walls and oor of a basement and which coact when thus assembled to prevent entry of water into the interior of said basement.

,My invention will now be described in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through a basement constructed in accordance with my teaching;

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken at right angles to the section of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a perspective showing a corner of a basement constructed in accordance with the disclosures of Figures 1 and 2.

With reference to the gures of the drawing, my invention consists of an assembly of wall and oor blocks W and F, respectively. and an additional iloor block D, arranged for drain purposes as will be hereinafter described. These blocks may be prefabricated of concrete or other suitable material, and sold to the consumer in a form ready for assembly.

Each of the wall blocks W is virtually the height of the basement and is provided with a substantially hollow interior IIJ, and the exterior faces thereof have apertures I2 therethrough communicating with the hollow interior in each case. The vertical faces of the blocks W may be provided with grooves I5 for the reception of cement when the blocks are built into a basement wall for the purpose of providing adherence therebetween.

The oor blocks F are each provided with hollow interiors 20 and the upper face of each oor block is foreshortened so as to provide a ledge 23 having an open face 25 connecting with the hollow interior 20. Floor blocks F may be of the same width as wall blocks W and assembled therewith in such a manner that each wall block rests on the ledge 23 of a respective floor block. The contiguous surfaces of the wall and floor blocks may be provided with cement to ensure adherence therebetween and to seal the interior of the basement from seepage. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the hollow interiors of the wall blocks are in communication with the hollow interiors of respective oor blocks around the periphery of the basement.

An additional floor block D is provided comprising a pair of concrete slabs 21 and 2'9 maintained in parallel spaced relation by partition means 30 which may be formed integral with the slabs. Block D may extend from wall to wall and each outer edge of block D is formed with a ledge 32, upon which wall a block W may be cementedly set with the hollow interior thereof communicating with the space between the slabs 21 and 29, as shown in Figure 2. Block D may be provided with a grooved edge 3| for holding a cement seal 32 when laid adjoining oor blocks F which are provided with similar grooved edges.

The hollow interiors 20 of oor blocks F communicate with the space 'between the slabs 21 and 29, and it will be appreciated that any water seepage through the apertures I2 will thus nd its way into the interior of block D. The interior surface of slab 29 is graded downwardly, as shown in Figure 2, and is provided at its lowest point with an aperture 35 communicating with a drain pipe 31 which may be connected to a sewer or other outlet. Accordingly, it will be seen that ground water which finds its way through the apertures I2 will be circuitously routed through the walls and iloor of the basement to a sewer before it can have access by absorption and seepage into the interior.

My invention may be modified considerably without departing from the spirit thereof. For example, the oor block D need not extend entirely across the oor of a basement but could in fact be a centrally disposed block contiguous With a plurality of surrounding Iblocks such as the blocks F. Further, the blocks F and W can be proportioned in any desired manner, so long as interior communication therebetween is maintained. For example, in the construction shown,

the blocks W are substantially the height of the basement, but it will be appreciated that the walls could be constructed of blocks of substantially less height, built up on each other with their hollow interiors in vertical communication.

Accordingly, I do not consider my invention limited to the specic construction shown, except as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. Basement construction comprising, a floor composed of elongated hollow slabs extending the width of the floor, the edge slabs being rabbeted around three sides and the central slabs being rabbetedalong their end edges to form a continuous perimetral ledge about the floor, the horizontal face of said ledge having openings communieating with the hollow interiors of said slabs, one of said slabs having a drain opening from its hollow interior through its lower face, side walls of vertical hollow slabs, the bottom edges .of said side wall slabs having openings communicating with the hollow interiors, said side wall slabs also having openings in their outer vertical faces communicating with the hollow interiors, said side 4 wall slabs being seated upon the ledge of said floor with the bottom openings of said wall slabs in communication with the openings in said ledge.

2. In basement construction as claimed in claim 1, the hollow in said floor slabs being tapered downwardly toward said drain opening.

LEE Y. DAVIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name i, i Date y 349,735 Nicaise Sept. 28, 1886 1,712,303 Howell May 7, 1929 1,891,934 Joy Dec. 27, 1932 1,900,457 Miller Mar. 7, 1933l 2,147,035 Henderson Feb. 14, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS- Number Country Date `103,323 Germany 1899 26,446 Switzerland 1902 

